


troubleshooting

by Noa



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Android Lil Hal, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 08:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2184990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noa/pseuds/Noa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was still a slight chance that the fluttering feeling in his chest would go away on its own, and Hal was anything if not a man who stood by exploring all the possibilities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	troubleshooting

Sunset crept through the blinds of Dirk’s workshop. This ‘workshop’ was really just a small bedroom, but he’d repurposed it as soon as he moved into the apartment. It was nice having all his tools in one place, and he didn’t have to worry about sleeping in fumes either. By the desk, Hal stood quietly as Dirk reattached his front plates.

“Everything looks fine.” Dirk said. He put away his screwdriver, and brushed Hal’s breastplate down.

They just finished a check-up at Hal’s request. His heart was acting weird (sudden palpitations, occasionally skipping beats), but when Dirk checked Hal’s chest, he couldn’t find any problems.

“There has to be something wrong.” Hal protested. Dirk shrugged, and tossed the cloth.

“Your insides look flawless, bro. You run a system scan yet?”

“I ran five.” Hal replied. “They all came out clean. It has to be the parts.”

“Well, it isn’t.” Dirk said simply. “I could give Rolal a call and ask her to check out your code? Get a second opinion.”

Hal sighed, and shook his head.

“Nah. I’d rather not have her sift through my brain again. Shit’s mad uncomfortable.”

“Suit yourself man.” Dirk said. He gave Hal’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, and left the room.

Alone, Hal sighed again. These sudden surges of his heartbeat happened a lot more when Dirk was around. At first, the correlation seemed incidental, but during the past few weeks it’s become painfully obvious that the two were related. Hal reached up and touched his shoulder, right where Dirk’s hand had been.

He had a theory. Hal’s done the research. He gathered the stats, worked out the numbers, and the result was a theory. A hypothesis. A possible explanation for the abnormal behavior of his heart. He didn’t like it much, but no other options made sense (he didn’t like that much, either). The graphs were clear. Pie charts never lie.

Hal shook his head, like he was trying to shake out his thoughts. He’d deal with this later. There was still a slight chance that the fluttering feeling in his chest would go away on its own, and Hal was anything if not a man who stood by exploring all the possibilities.

Another two weeks passed, and Hal could now definitely say that the fluttering feeling in his chest wasn’t going to go away on its own. Instead, it only seemed to be getting worse. Dirk didn’t appear to be bothered by Hal’s constant buzzing and jittering, but Hal most certainly was. He had to do something, anything, to put his misbehaving heart at ease. The internet had never let him down before, but the only (sensible) suggestion Google was capable of giving was ‘tell him how you feel’. Hal was skeptical, but he was also out of ideas.

During the next checkup, just as Dirk was about to undo the screws of Hal’s front plates, Hal decided to take the plunge.

“Don’t laugh.” Hal said.

Dirk looked up, confused.

“What?”

“I’m gonna tell you something, but you can’t laugh.”

“..Are you feeling alright?” Dirk asked, wiping some motor oil off on his jeans.

“Dude, I’m serious. Just don’t laugh, okay. Do me a solid.”

Dirk clearly had no idea what was going on, but ended up nodding anyway.

“Sure. I won’t laugh.” He put his screwdriver down. “What’s up.”

Hal took a breath. Shit, he was really doing this.

“I,” His sharp voice sounds softer than usual. “I think I’m in love with you.”

There’s a pause.

For a moment, it’s as if nothing happened. They stand quietly, Hal stubbornly staring over Dirk’s shoulder, while Dirk searches for Hal’s eyes. The soft whirring of Hal’s fans is all that fills the silence.

Hal clenches his fists. Patience.exe has always been a tough program to run. Dirk notices and blinks, startled, like he’s only just realized that he needs to actually say something.

“Oh.” Is what he ends up saying, and he instantly feels like slapping himself in the face. Oh? Really? Dude says he’s in love with you, and that’s all you’ve got? “Cool.” He adds. Great. Much better.

Hal seems as stunned by Dirk’s ineptitude as Dirk is.

“Cool.” Hal repeats, slowly. Dirk nods, but doesn’t elaborate, so Hal continues. “There’s at least twenty different ways for me to interpret that, bro. Mind giving me a bit more to work with?”

Dirk runs a hand through his hair, and turns his gaze to the floor.

“Sorry, it’s. I’m not sure what to say.”

Hal cocks his head to the side, his expression stuck between frustration and endearment. At least Dirk’s not laughing.

“Need me to make you an Ask Yahoo thread?” Hal offers.

Dirk gives Hal a look of disbelief, and Hal holds up his hands in defense.

“I mean, if you’d rather have 4chan, that’s cool too. Hell we could make it an Omegle question, get some strangers in on this. The number of possibilities is endless. Perhaps even bananas. I’ll get back to-”

“Hal.” Dirk says, and Hal instantly falls quiet. Guess it wasn’t going to be that easy to pretend this whole confession thing never happened. He shouldn’t be surprised. Dirk’s too much of a jerk to have let him talk over it anyway. Huge fucking jerk.

In Hal’s peripheral vision, Dirk’s hand moves. Then, he feels Dirk’s fingers brush against his palm.

The next thing he knows, Dirk’s holding his hand.

Hal looks at Dirk, hoping to see some kind of clue on what to do or say, but Dirk’s still studying the floor (like a fucking loser). Something seems off, though. Hal narrows his eyes.

“You’re holding your breath again.” Hal notes.

Dirk promptly breathes out in a huff.

“Says the guy who sporadically forgets to breathe altogether.” He counters.

“Can’t spell sporadically without radically, bro.” Hal says. “Besides, I’ve got a lot of processes running. Can’t blame me for missing a few here and there.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be a super computer?” Dirk asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Damn straight. But even the most bitchin’ of super computers get tired of breathing sometimes. Shit’s bothersome.” Hal says.

“Hot girls-” Dirk starts.

“Don’t.” Hal tries to cut him off.

“-We have problems too.”

Hal groans.

“God dammit, Dirk.”

“I love you.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

They both snicker quietly, until Dirk gives Hal’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“No, really.” He says. Hal’s head snaps up. He stares, waiting for Dirk to start laughing again.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, Dirk wears a small, careful smile. The look in his eyes makes Hal’s heart feel warm, and his head feel light.

Or he’s just forgetting to breathe again. Maybe it’s both. Hal’s face pulls into a pensive frown.

“You ok?” Dirk asks, trying to mask his nerves by putting on a casual voice. Did he say something wrong? Hal waits a beat, then shakes his head.

“I think my heart glitched.” Hal sounds hesitant.

Dirk blinks, chuckles, and shuffles a bit closer. Hal’s frown deepens at the sight.

“Dude, that’s not funny, what if it’s-”

With a swift surge forward, Dirk seals his lips to Hal’s, and kisses him softly. Hal grips Dirk’s hand a bit harder in reflex, and belatedly remembers to closes his eyes.

Dirk pulls back, and looks at Hal to gauge his reaction. Hal takes a second to reopen his eyes. He brings his free hand up to touch his tingling lips, and his fans whir louder than before. He seems to think for a moment.

“So you’re ok with this?” Hal then asks.

“I figured our mouth-to-mouth just now made that kind of obvious, yeah. You’re not running Vista, are you? One confirmation check should be plenty.”

“Dude, I’m serious.”

“I know,” Dirk starts. He sways forward again, till their noses touch, and he intertwines his fingers with Hal’s. He briefly looks down at their joined hands, then back up at Hal’s eyes. “So am I.”

Hal’s face brightens, and his smile breaks into a grin. Dirk grins back. They both tilt their head a little, not letting go of the other’s gaze. Hal can feel Dirk’s breath on his lips.

He leans in.

(And his heart does the thing.)

_fin_


End file.
